DIY table help

[SpringHexagon]

Hi all, first time in the DIY section for me, have no experience at all of stuff like this so I am looking for some help.

My gran passed away last year and I ended up with her little dining table, it is a square folding table, dark wood with a large leather like square on the middle, kind of like a bridge table. I would like to paint it and perhaps do something with the square in the middle to make it look nicer so I can use it as a little dining table. As cheaply as possible as I'm not very flush at the moment lol.

The room it will be going in is painted sage green with a beigey carpet, so colour suggestions would be great, as well as best paints and how to prep.

Thank you I'm advance to anyone who can help.

No advice with the colour, but the work needing doing will be an it depends sort of answer. Is the table currently painted / varnished? If so, it will need sanding back to the wood and then preparing from there. Depending on what finish you want you could stain / varnish, or if you want to paint you'll likely need a wood primer and then paint ontop of that, or if you can get the colour you want then just straight wood paint.

Loads of YouTube resources on how to strip and prepare a table for painting which will do a far better job than me typing here.

I paint a lot of furniture, I use primer (BIN Zinsser) over the varnish, just a quick sanding and cleaning beforehand. No need to strip it. I use eggshell paint. For the leather, it could be painted but riskier as it’s flexible and more likely to flake. You could try sticking an oil cloth type fabric over the top - the sort used as table clothes. There’s loads of patterns and colours and it’s cheap and waterproof.

You can get leather paint. Often used in car restorations.